(ANSA) - ROME, 03 JAN - Over a million Chinese internet users pay tribute these days to the Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang, the one who two years ago first reported the spread of an anomalous pneumonia which later turned out to be Covid-19.
For this he was punished by the authorities and shortly after he contracted the virus and died.
This was reported by some international media, reporting that an avalanche of posts in his memory appeared on his Weibo profile, the most widespread social network in China, which has become a sort of dissent bachelor.
Li's death, which occurred in February 2020, had provoked an outburst of pain and anger, renewed on the occasion of the impending second anniversary. On December 30, 2019, Li, who worked as an ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital, posted a message about a WeChat group warning her medical colleagues about an outbreak of a type of pneumonia never before diagnosed at her hospital. The post was quickly blacked out but a screenshot was leaked and leaked online on December 31, a day before the local health authority made an official announcement that 27 cases of viral pneumonia of unknown cause had been detected.
On January 1, 2020, Wuhan police said they had punished eight people, including Li for "spreading rumors" about the virus, which infected the same doctor, who died in hospital on February 7 amid public protests.
(HANDLE).